Under the Gunn rehash!

I've taken the last two or three days off from sewing and I'm about to go crazy from it. I might be addicted. AB's birthday is this weekend, so I've spent my sewing time cleaning the house and doing bloggy stuff that I might normally do on the weekends. The result? A cleanish house (not gonna lie, I suck at cleaning) and an itchy feeling in my fingers. I should at least go rearrange my stash or something in order to make myself feel better! It was definitely nice to relax and watch Under the Gunn to get back into my sewing brain.

Spoilers ahead...

Things I loved:

An "unconventional" challenge...with fabric! I pretty much hate the usual unconventional stuff (it must be popular with people who don't sew). I thought it was cool that they had to choose fabric in the dark. Obviously color palettes are important, but I always shop with my hands. I've learned a lot about fabric by feel.

Things I hated:

Vampires? Really? I've over these challenges with the silly movie/TV tie-ins. It's not even October. The whole thing felt incredibly forced.

Mondo struggling. Watching this episode, I started to see why someone like Tim makes a good mentor. As far as I know, he doesn't design his own clothing, so he can be objective. I think Mondo was used to giving feedback based on his own visceral reaction, which isn't necessarily helpful to his team.

Asha and Michelle's conversation was odd.

I know this show is only an hour long, but I shouldn't completely forget about half the designers until their models come down the runway.

Favorite garment(s):

Loved Shan's again. I guess he wasn't anywhere near the top because he didn't use unconventional materials (that I could see, anyway)?

Asha's was fun, but the headdress took it too far for me.

Least favorite garment:

Michelle's look was icky. I hate exaggerated hips and it's NOT original. Hello again Elena.

Nicholas's brown trash bag was...oh sorry, I fell asleep while I was looking at the photo.

Best line of the night:

(deadpan) "It's a roller coaster of emotions." --Nicholas


Did Isabelle understand anything the judges were saying? It's hard enough for me to get what they're saying and I'm a native speaker. Also, I think it's HILARIOUS that the judges leave the room in order to deliberate. You know Nina and Heidi aren't leaving their seats for anyone!

Okay, this elimination...Anya blatantly sabotaged Brady. "Mean Girls with vampires" directly speaks to a junior vibe, but for some reason she pushed him away from that. And then given a chance to save him, to redeem herself, she threw him under the bus! Whhhaaaa? So wrong. I don't know what she sees in Nicholas's portfolio, but he made a poop-brown sack and should have gone home for it.

Next week: Isabelle doesn't finish! Again!

Infinity Scarf Tutorial

Be sure to scroll to the bottom of this post for a 1-day coupon code for my new favorite pattern!

Hey guess what? We're buried in snow again. I've always enjoyed living in the Midwest and the changing seasons, but this winter is really testing that feeling. What's worse, AB HATES going out in the snow (ask me how I know) so we can't even go out and make a snowman or an igloo or anything. Confession: I've always wanted to build an igloo.

At least I can sew up a bunch of pretty scarves to keep winter colorful! And today I have a tutorial to share for making your own infinity scarf!

Obviously, there are a million of these all over the internet. I know because I looked at them before Christmas. I made a few scarves as presents, and I think all of them were sewn a little differently. By the end, I had a technique I liked that was a little different than what I had seen in other tutorials. No hand-sewing required!

Enjoy!

You will need a half yard of knit (stretchy) fabric and your sewing machine. I used my serger and the project went super fast! To help you visualize, a half yard of knit fabric is a rectangle that is 18" long, and 60" wide. The width is predetermined when you buy the fabric. The length is what you choose at the cutting counter (1 yard, 1/2 yard, etc.). I hope that's clear!

First, fold your fabric, right-sides together, and match the long edges.

Sew the long edge. I had black thread on my serger...sorrynotsorry...but you should use a coordinating thread!

You will now have a tube of fabric. Turn it right-side out.

Flatten the scarf so that the one seam is on the edge. If your fabric is real springy, you may want to press it flat. I didn't press mine because I wanted a nice fluffy scarf.

Take the ends of your fabric tube and bring them towards each other. Make sure the scarf isn't twisted at all.

Starting on the end on the right, grab the bottom-right corner and fold it to the middle of the tube.

Next, take the top corner and fold it towards the middle, on top of the previous fold.

You've now folded the end of the tube into even thirds. Next, we'll insert the folded portion inside of the open tube end on the left.

Next, you will fold the open tube on the left the same way we folded the previous end. Start with the bottom portion...

...and then fold the top down.

Next, we'll sew all these folds together. Pin the layers to keep everything in place.

Using a slightly longer stitch length (3.0 or 3.5) and a regular straight stitch, sew everything together.

For extra security, sew it again next to the edge.

And you're done! I like this style of scarf in particular because you can put the sewn part behind your neck. This portion is flatter than the rest of the scarf, so you don't have all that extra bulk tickling the nape of your neck (is that just me?).

And if you're giving it as a gift, add some ribbon and a thoughtful charm, and you're good to go!

Questions? Comments? Let me know below!


How adorable is this new pattern from Peek-a-Boo Pattern Shop? The Boardwalk hoodie and henley (affiliate links) has so many variations and options, all of them cute! Today only, to celebrate the release, Amy is offering 15% off! Use code "boardwalk15" during checkout. I already bought mine and can't wait to sew up a dress for AB!

Project Planning

Sometimes I think I rush a bit too much between projects. I have so many ideas, so many patterns and so much fabric, that it's easy to pick a new project. I only work on one thing at a time (mostly) so when I'm halfway done with one thing, I'm already thinking about the next. I don't really mind, if I feel burned out I take a day or two off. But this weekend is AB's birthday, so I'm finding my free time is being used in ways other than sewing. No big deal, but it's forcing me to spend time thinking (heaven forbid!).

For a long time now, I've wanted to recreate my favorite RTW items. Maybe do a blog series or just my own personal projects. I realized that if I didn't make it a priority, it wouldn't happen! I've definitely been putting it off. So last night I pulled out all my favorite clothes and made a big pile.

Actually, it's not really that big! But if I made a pile of all the clothes I own? It would be monstrous, overflowing, out of control. Why do I own (and wear) all these things that are only meh? By the way, there is a decent mix of me-mades in here, I didn't discriminate.

To further cement my desire to copy these clothes, I made a list in my Fashionary of these items. 

Somewhere in this list, and these clothes, is a goal. Maybe sew one TNT a month? Even if I have to draft the pattern myself? I don't know, sometimes I feel like setting a sewing goal is too much like a sewing quota, so I need to find the right balance of "you have to!" and "I want to!" (Because everyone talks to themselves with a split personality, right?). 

At the very least, I hope that in my "down time" between projects, I'll turn to this list and give some weight to my tried and true styles. 

Wardrobe Architect: Defining My Style

By now I hope you know how much I'm in love with the Wardrobe Architect project. You're on board? Good, moving forward.

The last two exercises have been about defining your style, and then choosing specific garment details (skirt lengths, necklines) that correspond. What I've loved about Sarai's approach is that she's encouraged us to focus on how we FEEL when wearing certain things. Not how you feel when you SEE something ("oooooh that 1950's party dress is beautiful") but how you feel IN the clothes ("I'm wearing a 1950's party dress...what was I thinking?"). This approach has totally changed my perspective.

We were instructed to settle on 5 words that define our style (using our first worksheet as a starting point). I ended up with:

Practical, Grown-up, Identity, Feminine, Confidence

Now, Sarai wasn't specific on whether this was the style you DO have, or the one you WANT to have. Probably intentionally. I decided to go with the IDEAL style for my real life. How I want to feel every time I get dressed. 

The next step was to create a visual representation of these words. I made a Pinterest board. Everything I pinned here had to fit at least 4 of these words (more or less, I didn't count!). If you know anything about Pinterest, you know how easily you can fall down the rabbit hole of "ooooo pretty". By taking this structured approach, I ended up with a board that feels achievable. No fantasy wardrobe, no fantasy LIFE. Just real styles that I can wear.

I don't want to dissect my words too much because wow that's boring...but "identity" might be a little confusing if you're not in my brain. Basically, that means focusing on being Beth instead of just being Mom. If you're a parent, you know what I mean. 

I'll probably address "grown-up" in a later post, probably around my birthday at the end of the month. Can I be grown-up but stay in my 20's forever? No? Anyway.

Are you following along with this series? The comments on Sarai's posts have been fascinating. Someday someone will be paying Sarai money for this service (or maybe for a book!) so you better get in on the ground floor!

Under the Gunn rehash!

Woohoo, we made it to the end of January! Good riddance to bad rubbish. Now on to the best month of the whole year, February (and no, I'm not being sarcastic). Just so you know, it's basically one holiday a week around here. AB's birthday is February 9th (she's TWO, WHAT?), Valentine's Day is the 14th, and my birthday is the 25th. Basically, we eat cake for an entire month. And my husband buys lots of presents. And the weather can't possibly be any worse than it was in January, so there's nowhere to go but up!

Plus, there's Under the Gunn to watch! Spoilers ahead...

Things I loved:

I'm happy the challenge was so generic. I think broad challenges allow the designers to show themselves a lot better than narrowly-focused ones. That said, I watched this episode twice, and both times I forgot to listen to Zanna describing the actual challenge. Whoops. Hollywood something or other?

Anya's plaid shirt and short shorts. That's how you rock a plaid shirt in a sexy way.

I didn't know Mood LA had a doggie, too!

Things I hated:

Wow, Tim really has to keep a handle on things here. Why is everybody breaking the rules? Mentors AND designers!

I was sooooo disappointed with Nick this episode. If I were a mentor on a show named for Tim Gunn, I would be doing my darndest to completely copy Tim Gunn. And he's NEVER sketched for someone or been anywhere near as talkative as Nick. Dude, get a grip!

Favorite garment(s):

I loved Sam's, again. And seriously, how lucky is he to have a model that seems to perfectly fit his vision?

Shan...wow. I could see it on a red carpet, easily. I would never wear it, but it was so cool!

Least favorite garment:

Stephanie/what's her name? ugh. Ugggggggg-ly. Tortured. Remember when Zanna said on All-Stars that green is never on a magazine cover? I can't stop thinking about that. And y'know what? All of Nick's designer's clothes looked terrible. Apparently those girls were going to the Oscars to take a nap, and all the other girls were going to have fun at the Grammys.

I agreed with Tim about Michelle's...that triangle was very poorly placed.

Best line of the night:

"I work off motivation, and I'm feeling motivated, so I have to just go with it." --Shan  

Okay, how brilliant is that statement?


I was surprised that Camilla was "sent home" (seriously, how hard would it be NOT to say "out"??). Camilla's looked far less obnoxious than Stephanie's. I saw a lot of bad prom dresses on that runway, but a simple, pretty dress was the worst? I don't get it. Not sure how I feel about these judges if that's how they think. You already know how I feel about Zanna as a mentor!

Next week: unconventional challenge. BOOOOO!

Plantain Tee hack

One of my goals this year is to sew more indie patterns. I hope to feature at least one each month, and this month it's the Deer & Doe Plantain T-shirt. This is a FREE pattern from Deer & Doe (sign up on their website and download free here).

I'll be honest, when I first saw this pattern I thought it wasn't quite for me. The flowy hemline looked like it was meant for pear-shaped woman, whereas I'm more...carrot-shaped? But I got over it when I remembered that I had two similar RTW tank tops that I wear to death in the summertime. I've been wanting to recreate those tanks for a while, so I thought, why not ditch the sleeves and make a tank top?

By the way, the temperatures in Indiana are hovering right around "can't feel my face" but I didn't let that stop me. I made a tank top to remind myself that summer still exists. And then I styled it with shorts and flats. In January. When will humans be allowed to hibernate?

I cut the size 34, but I raised the neckline about an inch, which ended up being a good decision. To figure out where to cut the pattern to create a tank top, I laid a shirt on top of the pattern and roughly sketched around it, joining at the original side seam.

Original pattern on bottom,

my version on top.

Just make sure your front and

back shoulders are the same length.

For this version, I didn't alter the height of the armhole, but next time I'll drop it an inch or so. This one is a bit tight/high. I also altered the pattern for color-blocking. That wasn't totally intentional, but when I washed the black and white chevron fabric, it shrank a LOT and I had to "make it work". To color-block, you simply cut the pattern and add seam allowances to each piece along the line you cut.

To finish the armholes, I used this method. I used self-fabric, but you could use bias tape or just a narrow hem. Whatever your preferred method for finishing armholes.

This was my first Deer & Doe pattern. They are a French company but I found no issues with their translated instructions, which were very thorough. The pattern was well-drafted, easy to tape together, and I loved that it included a 5/8" seam allowance. A lot of knits patterns use a smaller seam allowance because it's easier to sew with a serger, but in my experience you need 5/8" if you're going to use a sewing machine. And since I goofed and sewed both my shoulder seams, I had to use my sewing machine to attach the neckline band, and I did need the extra seam allowance.

The only thing I didn't like is sewing the curved hemline. I like the silhouette, but the sewing of it sucks. This project made me seriously start contemplating a coverstitch machine (this one).

Love these black

eyelet shorts.

Have you tried this pattern? There have been some pretty cute ones in the Deer & Doe Flickr pool, and they're also wrapping up a contest with it. I can't wait to make a bunch of these tanks for the summertime!

Special Guest Post: Claire from Ragbags and Gladrags

I have a guest post to share with you today! When Claire contacted me and asked about posting, I knew I wanted to say yes as soon as I read about her mission. The work she's doing will have a direct impact on little ones who can't speak for themselves. So read on to hear from Claire!

Hi I’m Claire and I blog over at Ragbags and Gladrags. I’m really glad to be able to guest post for Beth here at 110 Creations.

I’m an artist, designer, sewist and teacher and I use my creativity as a way to release stress and fund charity work that I do with International China Concern. I’d like to share a little of that with you today.

I became passionate about the work that International China Concern (ICC) do when I was fortunate enough to join one of their short-term teams in 2007.

David Gotts, who felt called to make a difference while on a gap year, set up the organization in 1993. He saw the conditions that abandoned children were often living in, the high mortality rate and lack of trained carers in the welfare centers.

Prior to ICC’s intervention the mortality rate could be as high as 80% of children abandoned. With just one carer to approximately 30 children it was survival of the fittest and carer just couldn’t care for the sheer numbers of children, especially those who had additional needs. Several babies would have to share one cot and there was little access to specialist medical care, therapy and special education.

In the 20 years that ICC have been working alongside the Chinese government to make a difference they have been training carers and reducing the ratio of children to staff, providing nutrition and access to specialist care if needed. Now 80% of children abandoned, in projects where ICC work, survive and have love, hope and opportunity. ICC also work to provide training to their own and government staff and work to support parents who have children with disabilities to prevent abandonment.

The need is still very great, and although conditions are improving slowly, there is still much to be done. ICC have a team of international volunteers who work in the projects, many of whom first encountered the organization via a short term team and decided to commit to working with the organization for a longer period of time.

My First team had such an impact on me, that I would have loved to go long term, and still hope to one day, but its not appropriate at the moment. However, I committed to supporting the work, fundraising and getting involved when I can. My family and I sponsor two children, whom I have been privileged to work with, and I know that the money all goes to making a difference. I’ve also supported the annual fundraiser called Walk the Wall over the last few years.

I’m very excited at the moment as I’ve been accepted on another short-term team that will be working in one of ICC’s projects over Easter this year, and my daughter is going with me. I’m looking forward to using my skills to love and care for the children there, to play and smile and give encouragement and support the long term team out there. I’ve been fundraising like mad and would love it if you could support us. If you are interested in joining with us, please take a look at my sponume page for more info, or check out the art works I have for sale (all proceeds go towards my fundraising).

Can I also encourage you to get involved in work like this, DO IT! You will never be the same again, and will never forget it! ICC offer opportunity to be involved with their work from short term teams, to long-term service. Or you can sponsor a child or take part in fundraising activities. I’m happy to tell you more about my experiences and share with you what I’ll be doing and you can contact me via my blog.

Please do take time to look at Dave Gotts telling the story of how International China Concern began. It’s such a moving and passionate story.

Thanks Beth for letting me share a little about this work with you and your readers.